Blame it on the rain: Utah State Fair attendance down 15%

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Rain put a damper on attendance at the Utah State Fair, which wrapped up its 158th edition on Sunday.

Attendance is projected at about 275,000 people over the fair's 11 days, according to Jeff Kooring, the fair's director of sales and marketing. That's about 15 percent below the 284,000 who attended last year.

Rain fell on six of the fair's 11 days, starting on the first Saturday, Sept. 7  just as the fair was on pace for a record-setting first weekend, Kooring said.

"Outdoor events are at the mercy of the weather," Kooring said in an email Sunday evening. "I think many of our guests did not attend the fair the first weekend due to rain, and thought they would come this weekend."

Kooring said that on the fair's second Saturday, even though a rainstorm blew through in the early afternoon, people still came to the fair. "They were hedging their bets that the rain would stop, and it did. And it was a really great night."

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